Yesenia is a Chicana / Mission District native who has been an activist and HIV and STD counselor working with youth, Latina/o, & queer communities for over 13 years. She began her work as a volunteer at Instituto Familiar de La Raza, RAP, and eventually ended up at the SF Department of Public Health’s Youth Peer Education Program. From there she went on to work at various other agencies including Health Initiatives for Youth where she coordinated the young women’s health program leading to the creation of Kickin’ Back with the Girls, A Young Woman’s Survival Guide. She is now working at the Castro-Mission Health Center and Dimensions Clinic as a Community Health Worker. Yesenia is also currently a student at City College and likes to walk her dog Chichi whom she loves very much.

Debbie Brown is a family doctor and has been working at the Castro-Mission Health Center for 18 years, with about 9 of those years also being the medical director of Dimensions Clinic. She went to medical school at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and did her residency at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Dr. Brown's off-hours interests include cycling, reading science fiction, taking her son to visit model railways, and worrying about the Greenland ice sheet.

Vitorrio is originally from Italy and has worked in the non-profit Public Health field for nearly 20 years, starting in the mid 1980’s at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. There he worked with L.A. CARES, one of the first government funded HIV education and risk reduction campaigns targeting gay and bisexual men. At the Center Vittorio went on to hold positions as Health Educator, STD Counselor, and HIV triage case manager. In 1992 he moved to San Francisco where he began his work with Special Programs for Youth/S.F. Department of Public Health. In 1999 Vittorio began working with Dimensions as a case manager, eventually moving into the position of Dimensions Collaborative Coordinator through Health Initiatives for Youth and under Michael Baxter. As a person living with AIDS and a long-time activist with such groups as ACT UP L.A. and Queer Nation, he uses both his personal and professional experience as his guides. To contact Vittorio you can email him or stop by during clinic hours.

Esteban is the outreach guy and a health worker at Dimensions. Before coming to Dimensions he worked with homeless residents in the Tenderloin, Latino Immigrants in the Mission, and many people with substance abuse issues both young & old. He is from the south Texas / northern Mexico frontera and has called the bay area home for 4 years. He is invested in promoting empowerment, self-sufficiency, and health & wellness among young queer and transgender people. He spends his free time running (from Jessie) and dreaming about owning a dog named Chichi.

Heather works as a therapist at Castro Mission Health Center and has been working with queer youth, adults and families for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to Castro Mission
and Dimensions she worked with youth-serving agencies including Larkin Street Youth Services and Huckleberry Youth Programs. Heather's areas of focus include gender and sexuality, HIV and harm reduction.

With a background in social justice organizing,
Layla loves bringing health care services to the communities
that need them most. She is committed to the principles of self-determination,
harm reduction and equitable access to health care. Getting a dose of the smarts,
humor and resilience of Dimensions clients and staff is one of the best parts of
her week.

Layla also works as an RN at Special Programs for Youth, the DPH clinic
serving incarcerated youth, and at La Clinica de La Raza in Oakland, as well as
volunteers with DPH’s Transgender Health Services project. Currently in training at
UCSF, she is looking forward to providing primary care to these communities as a
Family Nurse Practitioner in the future.

She also enjoys strong coffee, a chance to defend LA, reading everything
by Sherman Alexie, packing light for small adventures and walking at night without a flashlight.

Mona Eshaiker is a proud queer Middle Eastern woman originally from Southern California.
Mona got her BA in Feminist Studies from UCSC where she was involved in activism as a prison abolitionist.
While at UCSC, she served as the director of a program facilitating writing and art workshops to incarcerated
women. After college, Mona worked with youth in the juvenile justice system, in the foster care system, and
with sexual assault survivors. Mona moved to the Bay in 2011 to pursue her MS degree in Clinical Psychology
and completed her practicum at Queer LifeSpace. She is passionate about working with queer youth and is
honored to be part of the fabulous team at Dimensions!

Danielle Castro is a Latina trans-identified woman born in San Jose, CA, and is an intern therapist
that works with queer youth in San Francisco. Ms. Castro is a heartfelt and passionate transgender community advocate
who seeks to create positive change through her work. She is currently the Community Mobilization Specialist for the
Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California, San Francisco, and intern therapist for
Dimensions Clinic and a national Capacity Building Assistance Provider for various organizations delivering HIV
prevention and care as well as behavioral health services. Her writing was recently published in the Praeger Handbook
of Community Mental Health Practice. Most recently, Danielle was awarded the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies
International Women’s Day Award for all of her work to advance health care for trans people throughout the country.

Hailing from the city of wind, Chicago, Charles has been a strong advocate for the economic and social
advancement of P.O.C., Queer folks and other marginalized populations in the states and abroad. Having received his B.A
in English at DePaul University, he currently attends SFSU and CCSF to see where his academic goals will take him next.
Charles has worked as a teacher, educator and mentor for the past 8 years at such organizations as Mission Learning Center
and Nuestra Familia; he has also lived in Honduras for two years working as an ESL teacher. Charles is a LYRIC Case Manager
and has a penchant for writing, music and fashion from the 1930’s. Charles can be contacted at 415.703.6150 x18 or
charles@lyric.org

Sherilyn is a licensed social worker with more than fifteen years of experience developing and managing programs addressing substance abuse, mental health, HIV/AIDS, and child abuse and family violence issues. Previously the Division Director for Supportive Housing and Case Management Services at Baker Places, Sherilyn developed and administered six housing and case management programs targeting dually- and triply-diagnosed adults. This included supervision of the agency’s Intake and Placement Team, and clinical oversight for all programs in a variety of housing and treatment settings. She has also managed residential treatment and outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs.

Michael BaxterPrimary Care Administrator for Youth Programs,
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Michael Baxter, MSW has worked in the field of adolescent health for the past twenty years. He is currently employed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health as the Primary Care Administrator for Youth Programs and until recently was the Director of Community Health Programs for Youth, a consortium of DPH-funded clinics providing services to youth 12-24 years of age. Michael has implemented health education programs for incarcerated youth, was instrumental in ensuring a continuum of HIV services for young people that continues to date, and has worked to increase school-based health services in San Francisco. He is also a co-founder and current chair of the Collaborative Board for the Dimensions Clinic, a public-private collaboration that offers comprehensive health services specifically for queer youth in San Francisco.

Jodi had the honor of becoming LYRIC’s Executive Director on October 1, 2005, bringing over 20 years of experience of nonprofit work and an ardent commitment to social justice. Before joining LYRIC, Jodi was the Managing Director of Resource Development Associates (RDA), and the Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ). Throughout her career, Jodi has worked with youth and their families in their struggle to disengage from the juvenile justice system, has teamed with youth in need of support in and out of school, and has supported youth in serving their peers and the broader community through civic activism and youth philanthropy. Jodi began working for social justice as a teenager, during which time she was fortunate to have mentors of all ages. These relationships solidified her belief that every generation’s contribution to social justice is crucial for its survival. Stemming from her life experience and personal values, Jodi believes that sustained achievement of positive social change must be built as a collective community effort, where everyone shares in leadership and visionary roles and is supported in their fulfillment of those roles. She works to ensure that youth, in particular, are afforded opportunities to give voice to their stories and are supported in their role as community leaders, now and in the future. More information about LYRIC can be found at www.lyric.org.